Can we hear the sound of wedding bells in the air? Actually, to be precise, it’s the sound of Wedding, the opening salvo of Metronomy’s forthcoming magnum opus, the appropriately titled Metronomy Forever. The group’s sixth album is a bold statement of intent, an eclectic marriage of all their best bits, from wonky electro pop to more reflective guitar jaunts.
Don’t be fooled by the cosy press shots. Make no mistake, Metronomy is a dictatorship, albeit possibly the most polite, benevolent, apologetic dictatorship in history. Joe Mount is to Metronomy what Kevin Parker is to Tame Impala – a multiinstrumentalist creative tour de force, who writes and produces the act’s output pretty much single-handedly from his home studio. It’s a singular approach, forged on DIY experimentation, that has steadily gained Metronomy critical acclaim and a string of A-list admirers, from Lady Gaga to Josh Homme; Kanye to Daft Punk. Not bad for an unassuming South Devon lad whose first album was a collection of bedroom recordings produced when he was supposed to be studying. Holy matrimony is a recurring fixation of the record, one that re-emerges on the similarly titled Wedding Bells. It could be a reflection of Mount’s own coming of age and settling down to raise a family. But there’s a hint of melancholy in there, too…
“Yeah, the wedding thing,” begins Mount. “It’s this weird preoccupation I have about not being invited to weddings… Basically, when you’re in a band, you tour so much. For a long time, you’d get like texts or emails, ‘There’s a party, do you want to come?’ and you’re like, ‘Shit, sorry, I’m away’. And then it all just dries up after a while and no-one bothers asking after a point. Anyway, I noticed that I don’t go to any weddings and all my friends go to loads!”